Multiple outlet adjustable sprinkler head

ABSTRACT

A multiple outlet adjustable sprinkler head which may be utilized in conjunction with any type of underground or overhead sprinkler system to control the volume and the spray pattern direction of the water under pressure which is being dispensed therefrom.

United States Patent [191 Green et a1.

[11] 3,830,434 Aug. 20, 1974 MULTIPLE OUTLET ADJUSTABLE SPRINKLER HEAD Inventors: William J. Green; Cloyd Hepworth,

both of Salt Lake City, Utah Assignee: Grant I. Morris, Salt Lake City, Utah by said William J. Green Filed: Feb. 20, 1973 Appl. No.: 333,891

US. Cl. 239/562, 239/201 Int. Cl. A62c 37/20 Field of Search 239/D1G. 1, 439, 551, 562, 239/536, 444, 266, 267, 288, 288.5, 201,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1893 Anderson 239/562 12/1926 Schlesinger 239/562 l/l930 Heine 239/562 9/1930 Thompson 239/201 10/1931 Thompson 239/580 5/1937 Schumacher 239/201 2/1940 Wittek 239/562 5/1961 Cadella... 239/444 1/1962 Hurless... 239/201 11/1970 Simon 239/580 3/1972 Jones 239/201 Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Attorney, Agent, or FirmWarren F. B. Lindsley ABSTRACT A multiple outlet adjustable sprinkler head which may be utilized in conjunction with any type of underground or overhead sprinkler system to control the volumeand the spray pattern direction of the water under pressure which is being dispensed therefrom.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MULTIPLE OUTLET ADJUSTABLE SPRINKLER HEAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to manually adjustable multiple outlet sprinkler heads.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is particularly directed to a detachable multiple outlet sprinkler head employing separate, manually adjustable valve means for each outlet to control the volume and spray pattern of water emerging therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Heretofore most of the sprinkler heads in use have been designed to be permanently attached to the sprinkling system outlets by cementing or otherwise, and were provided with a single outlet port of a predetermined shape and size which controls the volume and spray pattern of the water emerging therefrom. This type of sprinkler head made it necessary to replace the sprinkler head with one of a different design if it was necessary to change the volume of water and its spray pattern emerging therefrom. This procedure required considerable labor and expense to obtain the desired results.

In accordance with the invention claimed, a new and improved multiple outlet sprinkler head is provided having separate valve means for controlling the flow of water from each of a plurality of individual outlets wherein each outlet may be quickly and easily adjusted from a fully open position to a closed position to provide the desired spray pattern of water emerging from the outlets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, one object of this invention is to provide an improved multiple outlet sprinkler head.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved multiple outlet sprinkler head having adjusting means for controlling the volume of water emerging from each individual outlet.

A further object of this invention is to provide a multiple outlet sprinkler head which may be quickly and easily removed with a minimum of effort from the systems piping to adjust the valve means of its outlet or to replace the sprinkler head.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a multiple outlet sprinkler head assembly having valve means associated with each individual outlet in the head which may be separately adjusted to control the volume and spray pa ttem of the water emerging therefrom without removing the sprinkler head from the piping system.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be more readily described by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of the sprinkler head of this invention showing the approximate spray pattern derived when all of the outlets are open;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the sprinkler head shown in FIG. 2 attached to a vertical feed line of the sprinkler system and indicating a height position that it may be installed in relative to the grade surface;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing the preferred method of controlling the flow of water from the multiple outlets of the sprinkler head; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modified version of the method of controlling the flow of water from the multiple outlets of the sprinkler head.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the various views of the drawing for a more detailed description of the construction and other features of the invention by characters of reference, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate a manually controlled multiple outlet sprinkler head assembly 10 which consists of a hexagon-shaped body portion 11 provided with an annular groove 12 near its upper end, and a conical-shaped integral upwardly extending portion 13, the lower diameter of which is slightly less than the cross-sectional dimension of the hexagon body portion.

The lower end of the hexagon body portion 11 is preferably flat and is provided with a central counterbore 14. Counterbore 14 extends up into the body portion 11 and is provided with a female or internal pipe thread 15 which is adapted to receive the male or external pipe threaded upper end of an outlet pipe 16 of the sprinkler system. It should be noted that the internal pipe thread 15 may be sized to receive the external pipe thread of any size pipe, such as one-half or threefourths inch pipe, that may be used in the sprinkling system and is of sufficient length to allow for the clamping of a suitable screen member 17 (shown in dotted line) between the upper end of the outlet pipe 16 and the flat upper surface of the counter-bore 14, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A smaller diameter central counter-bore 18, in the preferred form of the invention shown in FIG. 3, projects further up into the hexagon body portion 11 and together with a central annular chamber 19 formed in the body portion above the counterbore 18 provides a thick, strong web portion 20. Web portion 20 is provided with a central aperture 21, which communicates with annular chamber 19, counter-bores l8 and 14, respectively, and the interior bore 22 of the systems outlet pipe 16, thus causing all of the water or fluid entering the chamber 19 and dispensed therefrom to be thoroughly screened to retain foreign particles before they can plug the fluid outlets 23.

The number of fluid outlets 23 provided in the conical surface of the upwardly extending portion 13 may be 2, 3, 4 or more, depending on their size, angularity and the degree of spray pattern coverage desired, as for example from 65 to 260 or more. The preferred form of the sprinkler head assembly 10 shown in all the figures of the drawing is provided with four outlets 23 which are diametrically opposed at radial intervals around the circumference of the conical extension 13.

Each is provided with an approximately 65 radial spray pattern coverage as indicated in FIG. 1, or a combined radial coverage of 260 when all of the outlets 23 are open. A lesser radial spray pattern coverage is possible when some of the outlets are. partially or fully closed.'

Each of the outlets 23 which are cut or formed in the sloping circumferential wall of the conical extension 13 are preferably arcuate in shape in their horizontal plane and angular or wedge-shaped in their vertical plane with the vertex of the wedge projecting radially inward toward the center of the conical extension 13, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Directly above and communicating with the annular chamber 19 are a plurality of small dead-ended vertical bores 24 which project up into the head portion 25 of conical extension 13 and into and through the inner angular sides of the outlets 23. Each bore 24 provides an individual communication between the annular chamber 19 and each of the outlets 23.

A plurality of internally threaded holes 26 in direct vertical and radial alignment with the bores 24 are provided in the web portion 20 directly below each bore. These bores are adapted to receive externally threaded set screws or valve members 27. Each valve member has a conical-shaped upper end 28 which projects up into the annular chamber 19 to provide adjustment for the pressure and water flow through each bore and outlet 23 from fully open to completely closed position, by simply screwing the valve member set screws 27 out of contact or into contact with the bottom open ends of the vertical bores.

The prefered form of .the multiple outlet sprinkler head of this invention described in the preceding paragraphs is of the preset type, that is, each individual outlet must be adjusted to provide the desired volume and spray pattern of the water under pressure emerging therefrom. This is accomplished before the head assembly is installed on the outlet pipes 16 of the sprinkler system. Access to the set screw valve members 27 is only possible from within the central openings in the body portion of the head. This feature is intended to prevent tampering with the preset adjustment of each sprinkler head by unauthorized persons, but should it be desired to change the spray pattern of any sprinkler head, it can be quickly accomplished by simply removing the particular sprinkler head from the outlet pipe 16, readjusting the set screw valve members 27 and replacing the same on its outlet pipe.

Should it be desired to utilize some or all multiple outlet sprinkler heads in the system, which can be readily adjusted from the outside without the necessity of removing, adjusting, and replacing the head assembly on its outlet pipe, the modified version shown in FIG. 4 could be used to perform the same function in the same manner as the prefered version previously described.

The modified version of the multiple outlet sprinkler head assembly shown in FIG. 4 is similar in most respects to the preferred version shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, except that the deadend vertical bores 24' which extend up into each of the outlets 23 in the head portion 25 of the conical extension 13 are in direct communication with the interior bore'22 of the outlet pipes 16 of the system and may becontrolled from outside the sprinkler head. This may be accomplished by a simple adjustment of the flat-ended set screw valve members 27' controlling bores 24' which are larger in diameter than the vertical bores 24' and threaded into similar internally threaded horizontal holes 26'. These holes 26 project, in radial alignment, from the outside of the head portion 25 inwardly through the center of each vertical bore 24' toward the center of the head portion 25 of the body portion 11.

It should be noted that in FIG. 4 one of the set screw valve members 27 has been adjusted to partially opened position, allowing a controlled volume of water to be ejected through its bore 24 and its outlet 23 in the desired spray pattern, and that the opposite set screw valve member 27' has been adjusted inwardly to completely close off the passage of water through its vertical bore 24 and its communicating outlet 23 to the outside of the sprinkler head 10 for purposes of illustration. This procedure may be followed with any number of multiple outlet sprinkler heads to obtain the overall desired spray pattern without removing any of the heads for the purpose of adjustment.

Either the preferred or the modified version of the multiple outlet sprinkler heads of this invention may be installed in a sprinkler system with their respective outlets 23 slightly below or entirely above the ground level, as illustrated in dot-dash line in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The respective ground levels are represented by the reference characters 29 and 29. In either case it would be desirable to provide a conical cut-out or de pression 30 in the earth around each sprinkler head. A circular, metal or plastic cover plate 31 having a conical shaped depression and several sharp depending prongs 32 and a central opening 33 may be snapped into the annular groove 12 so that its under surface rests on the surface of the ground with the prongs 32 inserted therein to cover the conical cut-out 30 in the earth, allow unobstructed access to the hexagon body portion of the sprinkler head. This type of installation prevents accidental lateral movement and damage to the sprinkler head.

Although but one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A sprinkler head comprising:

a single piece hexagon shaped body portion having a conically shaped head portion at one end thereof,

said body portion being provided with a first bore extending axially therethrough into said head portion,

an internal pipe thread provided along at least a part of the periphery of said first bore for cooperative engagement with the external threads of a pipe of a sprinkling system,

a plurality of second bores arranged to extend into and through said head portion and in communication at a common end with said first bore of said body portion,

an outlet for each of said second bores of said head portion all equally spaced around the outside peripheryof said head portion for directing fluid from said second bores out of said head laterally of the longitudinal axis of the sprinkler head,

6 with the periphery of said aperture snugly engaging said head portion within said groove, and means mounted on said shield for engaging the ground for affixing said sprinkler head in a given position. 2. The sprinkler head set forth in claim 1 wherein: the heads of each of said set screws are exposed to the outside of said head portion. 3. The sprinkler head set forth in claim 1 wherein: said shield defines a conical depression for fitting into a conical cutout in the ground. 

1. A sprinkler head comprising: a single piece hexagon shaped body portion having a conically shaped head portion at one end thereof, said body portion being provided with a first bore extending axially therethrough into said head portion, an internal pipe thread provided along at least a part of the periphery of said first bore for cooperative engagement with the external threads of a pipe of a sprinkling system, a plurality of second bores arranged to extend into and through said head portion and in communication at a common end with said first bore of said body portion, an outlet for each of said second bores of said head portion all equally spaced around the outside periphery of said head portion for directing fluid from said second bores out of said head laterally of the longitudinal axis of the sprinkler head, valve means for each of said second bores for controlling the amount of fluid and its spray pattern passing through said second bores, said valve means comprising set screws threadedly mounted in said head portion, each penetrating a different one of said second bores for adjustably controlling the amount of fluid passing therethrough, said body portion being provided with a groove extending completely around its outer periphery adjacent said head portion, an apertured shield for surrounding said head portion with the periphery of said aperture snugly engaging said head portion within said groove, and means mounted on said shield for engaging the ground for affixing said sprinkler head in a given position.
 2. The sprinkler head set forth in claim 1 wherein: the heads of each of said set screws are exposed to the outside of said head portion.
 3. The sprinkler head set forth in claim 1 wherein: said shield defines a conical depression for fitting into a conical cutout in the ground. 